An online ‘hacktivist’ group has received both positive and negative comments after taking control of The Sun’s website and hacking into journalists’ email accounts earlier today.
Known as Lulzsec on social media networking site Twitter, the anonymous team of specialist computer hackers have been praised by fellow Tweeters for their attack on Rupert Murdoch.
Many have joined the online revolution, with a wealth of Twitter members tweeting trend word AntiSec, supposedly Lulzsec’s campaign against Rupert Murdoch and those involved with the phone hacking scandal at The Sun and The News of the World.
A video has been produced and posted on YouTube entitled Anonymous-Operation AntiSec by a Twitter member named Kloud who claims: “It’s time to show the corrupt governments of the world that they do not have the right to censor what they do not own.” The video is receiving an increasing number of views, with many in support of its message.
However, a blogging website called Gizmodo who published news of Lulzsec’s actions has seen the other side to the hacktivist’s actions with online users claiming there are double standards in this approach to the News International scandal.
In response to Lulzsec’s takeover of The Sun’s website and redirecting it to another website domain, as well as acquiring access to email accounts and phone numbers of The Sun journalists, one member named CaptainJack said: “I’m no fan of NewsCorps tactics, but isn’t this a bit of the pot calling the kettle black?
“Let them have their fun - because unlike the people behind The Sun phone hacking debacle, if Lulz / Anon ever get caught, they will punished under the full extent of the law without the support of anyone.”
Lulzsec re-routed regular users of The Sun website this morning to the website www.new-times.co.uk/sun showcasing the bogus story on its front page. Entitled ‘Media moguls body discovered’ it described how the Australian media mogul had been found dead in his garden after ingesting a large quantity of palladium.
Gizmodo user JackSparrow added: “I am not saying that NewsCorp are saints, quite the contrary, but I am also saying Anti-Sec does not have any moral high ground in this arena, and shouldn’t be feigning outrage.”
Writing for the web made easy
Learning the ways of hashtags, blogging and HTML coding
Being tasked to source, write and submit content on the internet seems like a daunting feat. Technological jargon like SEO, IP addresses and anchor text seems to fly over our heads, but realistically it is easy to get to grips with.
Understanding the basics of the web and how to write for it is simple. Starting off with news sourcing, many use Google as their most trusted source with around 90 per cent of searches in the UK made on this website.
Sites and stories will have been ranked by Google depending on the relevance to your search. For example, searching a constantly updated topic such as phone hacking brings up around 50 million results in a speedy 0.1 seconds. From this search you will receive the most up-to-date information for you, in my case - The Guardian, Daily Mail and BBC News.
Always take the “I don’t trust this” approach if you are trying to figure out whether news content or a source is legit. Using Who Is can check an IP address of a website for you to see if a news article has been written by a leading London journalist or Terry, 34, typing in his bedroom in his mum’s house.
Another essential online tool to source and spread the news is Twitter giving you the opinions of those you follow. Anyone from Barack Obama to your next-door neighbour.
Putting it into context, I have searched phone hacking again and I have received an endless supply of 140 character comments and articles. Many of which are completely useless to me. To target the search a little better, hashtags are key.
Using the # symbol before specific words related to your article narrow down your results:
#Murdoch #hacttee #Yates #Brook #hackgate #murdochsnr #notw #SUSPECT #hacked
Getting down to writing to your blog, there are a number of websites you can use. Blogger is the easiest (exhibit A) as it allows you to produce a blog in an easy format to write and edit. With time, HTML coding will allow you to do this effectively.
Imagery can add character to a story but there are copywriting restrictions that may get in your way. To keep it simple, websites such as Google Images or Flickr and ensure you can select images with a Creative Commons license on the Advanced Search option.
So what are the benefits of writing online? You are giving your audience realtime news as and when it happens with the ability to reach individuals across the globe. With this in mind you can receive immediate feedback, positive or negative.
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